Forever Love
by Romantic Medievalist
Summary: Post 5x22: "Damon is gone. But I will get him back...I have to. How can I go on living forever without the center of my world?" I hate how Season 6 is going so far, so this is the way I would have had Elena cope in the months after his death.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the Vampire Diaries universe, just the plot of this story. And Damon! *sighs heavily* Okay….I don't own him either, except in my dreams. **

**Hello again, everyone! *waves* A huge thank you to all who reviewed my Twilight story, your words meant a lot! My Delena heart broke during the Season 5 finale, and Season 6 has done little to heal it, so I chose to write my own story. I've been wanting to write this for awhile, and I finally had some free time to do it. I may leave this as a oneshot, or I might continue it…..as I have some ideas for future chapters. Let me know what you think! **

Elena POV

I could feel the sunlight peeking through the curtains of my beloved's room. I loved his bed - it was so comfortable, but it was the fact that I could wake up to his beautiful face every morning that made it that way.

I was so lucky to have him in my life….I don't know what I did to deserve him, but am so thankful for it.

I stretch my arms over my head to wake myself up, and then I reach over to feel his skin so I can snuggle with him before I have to get up. But my smile drops immediately when I feel nothing but cold, satin sheets.

In fact, I can barely smell his scent in the room at all, as if he hasn't been in here in months….with a tearful gasp I realize why he isn't there, and I break down into mournful sobs.

I bury my face into his pillow and inhale what is left of his soothing scent to help calm me down. I think to myself, _I can't keep doing this_.

After all the grief and loss that I've endured, you would think I would have it down to a science by now, and I did. After all, I've lost three sets of parents and countless friends and relatives.

But now I have lost him - the center of my world. It didn't begin that way. I smile at the memory of both of our first meetings. That's right, we met for the first time twice, though I wasn't aware of this until after my transition into my new life.

_I was walking down the road that led back to town, away from the party I wasn't supposed to be at in the first place, while talking to my best friend Bonnie about my relationship with my then-boyfriend Matt, or lack thereof: "I know Bonnie, you're right. You and my mom both are. I just can't bring myself to tell him. At least not tonight. I'll call you later." _

_I hang up, only to come face-to-face with the most handsome man I've ever seen. He breathed out the name "Katherine," and I looked around to make sure there was no one else there, and I was confused when I indeed saw no one, "No..I-um…I'm Elena." _

_The handsome stranger then introduces himself as "Damon" and I tell him how creepy it is that's he's out here alone, and he calls me out on being out there too. There's something about this man….his eyes seem to see right through me, and before I think about it I'm telling him about my fight with Matt, and how he's seemingly got our life all mapped out. _

_I then tell him, "I don't know what I want," knowing that isn't really true, and yet again Damon calls me out on it, "Well, that's not true. You want what everybody wants." _

_I smirk and flirt with him a little, asking him what he thinks I want. I'm floored with what he says and am simultaneously angered and turned on by the cockiness in his tone, "You want a love that consumes you. You want passion, an adventure, and even a little danger." _

Thinking back, I'm amazed that even then he knew me better than I knew myself. Things went to hell after that, for my parents showed up and Damon compelled me to forget meeting him, and then my parents' car went off the bridge, and well….you know the rest.

The next time we "met," I was just as captivated by the raven-haired, blue-eyed, arrogant man who seemed to have all the answers.

_I entered the Salvatore boarding house, a little freaked out by the open door and raven that flew over my head, only to come face-to-face with a very hot guy. He told me he was Stefan's brother, which confused and intrigued me since Stefan had never mentioned him. _

_He told me that Stefan wasn't "one to brag," which made me giggle internally - I always loved a guy who had a sense of humor. He then told me about Katherine and his own view on relationships, which instantly made me suspicious about how involved they both were with this mystery woman. _

_Then Stefan walked in, and cue awkward tension moment. I was baffled at the difference between Damon's easygoing nature and Stefan's intense and menacing stance toward his brother. Damon tried to lighten the mood, which made me laugh, but it did little to 'break the ice,' so to speak, so I left. _

I shut my eyes tightly at the memories.…if only I had known then what I know now….I try to shake my head in an attempt to banish thoughts of _him _from my mind, but now that I had begun a trip down memory lane, other flashes of moments between _him_ and me began sneaking through the brick wall I had put up to block them from my thoughts, for my own sanity.

_The fun I had during our "time out" in Georgia….how I felt walk down the staircase in my blue dress at the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant….when he compelled me to forget him telling me that he loved me….his deathbed confession before we found out Stefan had left us….how he never left my side that summer….how he made my birthday so special….how he promised he would never again leave me….our kiss on my front porch….our encounter in Denver….all the times I ran from our connection because I was scared of how deeply I cared for him….how I stupidly chose Stefan over him before I died….our first night together….how he never gave up on me after I turned off my emotions….the night I told him I was in love with him….and the most painful of all - our moment in the woods where he PROMISED he would come back._

A heartbreaking sob breaks through my lips at the last memory. I KNEW something would go wrong! I knew, somewhere deep inside my soul, that if he left he wouldn't be able to come back.

I was so petrified, because now I knew that he was the only person I could never live without. All of my running away from him, and denying my feelings for him, were for this reason alone: his reckless and passionate nature frightened me to my core because I knew one day it would get him killed.

And I fought letting the true depth of my feelings to the surface, because I knew once I admitted to myself how much I loved him…how much he owned my soul…that if I lost him, it would completely destroy me.

I brought Teddy to my chest and hugged him so tightly that I was surprised I didn't destroy him. I had so many memories of Damon laying on my bed with Teddy on his chest. A half-smile crossed my face before I broke down into sobs again.

Streams of tears poured down my face as I hugged Teddy to my chest. _Oh my love, I miss you so very much! I can't do this without you, I just can't! Why did you leave me?! You promised me you wouldn't! You PROMISED! _

I try to calm myself down, and I tell myself to do what I've been doing, what Alaric told me to do when I asked him how I was supposed to go on without _him_: just take it one day at a time….and what I've always done, smile and say "I'm fine" when people ask.

Then, when I feel as if I really can't muster the strength to face another day, I feel warm, strong arms wrap around me and I inhale a burst of his comforting scent. I close my eyes, smile, and take a deep breath.

The next moment, the feeling is gone, but I know he is near. This has happened each time I almost lose the battle to go on, and I take comfort in the knowledge that he is with me….even if I can't see him.

It is the only thing that's keeping me going. That, and the knowledge that somehow, someway, I will find a way to bring him back. After all, I have forever, right?

**So….let me know what you think of it, and if you think I should continue. Thank you for reading this, I love you all! *mwah* See y'all next time! ;-)**


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